In the manufacture of garments, pockets are provided as a convenient means for carrying useful items, such as a wallet, a handkerchief, currency, change, keys and the like. Pockets are integrated into the garment and take the general form of a pouch open at one end for easy access to the contents.
Two basic types of pockets are utilized in the garment industry; the patch type pocket and the standard type pocket. The patch pocket is formed simply by connecting a peripheral portion of a layer or patch of material directly to the outside surface of the garment. In contrast, the standard pocket opens onto the outside of the garment from an inside position, and gives the garment a less casual appearance.
The standard pocket, however, is of relatively more complex construction. In constructing such garment pockets, a pocket bag is manually integrated into a garment panel before assembly of the various panels into the garment. Material cutting, folding, positioning, sewing and trimming are some of the manual operations which have been required in constructing pockets. These manual operations are both time consuming and costly in terms of labor and material expenditure. The overall cost of a garment is affected to a significant degree by the pocket fabrication operation.
In an attempt to solve some of these problems and thus reduce the overall cost of a garment, some efforts have been directed to reduction of manufacturing steps through elimination or combination. For example, in co-pending application Ser. No. 905,054, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,156,293, and co-pending application Ser. No. 948,016, now U.S. Pat No. 4,263,678, both assigned to the assignee hereof, there are shown inventions relating to the manual construction of individual pockets with the aid of adhesives. In another co-pending application assigned to the assignee hereof, application Ser. No. 971,022, filed Dec. 19, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,661, there is shown a device which uses fabric and adhesive materials to prefabricate pocket bags ready for subsequent incorporation into the garment. Heretofor, however, there has not been available an apparatus which operates on a semi-automatic basis to implant preformed pocket bags into garment panels.
The present invention comprises an apparatus for implanting pockets which overcomes the foregoing and other difficulties associated with the prior art. According to the invention, there is provided an apparatus for implanting preformed pocket bags into garment panels on a semi-automatic basis. The apparatus herein is particularly suited for use with the device shown in co-pending application Ser. No. 971,022, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,661, and the prefabricated pocket bags formed thereby. The invention comprises a series of stations which perform several operations on a garment panel and prefabricated pocket bag to integrate or implant the bag into the panel and thus form a pocket. Garment panels having pockets are thus produced on a semi-automatic basis for subsequent assembly into complete garments. Use of the invention eliminates many of the manual steps which have characterized the pocket construction aspect of garment fabrication heretofor. The present invention results in improved efficiency in the overall production of garments.
More specifically, the present invention comprises a series of stations for performing sequential operations to a garment panel and prefabricated pocket bag clamped within a releasable template. No particular preparation of the garment panel is required beforehand. The stations are preferably interconnected by a flat surface with a guide thereon to facilitate movement of the template between stations. A pair of locating pins are preferably provided at each station to secure the template in proper position. At the first station, the panel and pocket bag are adhesively interconnected. At the second station, a predetermined slit is formed through the panel and pocket bag. A pocket slot is formed at the third and fourth stations. At the fifth station, a pocket welt can be provided across the pocket slot, if desired. A facing strip is attached at the sixth station. Reinforcing stitching through the pocket bag and garment panel can then be added, if desired, before closing and adhesively sealing the pocket bag in the last station to complete implantation of the pocket.